Breakfast

One thing I hate about fresh bread is that it doesn’t stay fresh for very long. I had some left over Dutch Crunch bread that wasn’t fresh enough to eat, and I decided to use it to make Dutch Crunch French Toast. It was really yummy! I was going to add some Bailey’s to the batter, but I realized I did not have any. I had some Grand Marnier which is just as good to use.

I don’t make french toast very often even though I love it because I am trying to be healthier and stay away from gluten. However, it’s really tough because I love bread. I just try to limit how much I eat these days. It was a treat for me this morning.

If you buy the quinoa that needs to be cooked, follow the package instructions. Usually it takes about 15 minutes to cook. If you buy the organic quinoa that is already cooked from Trader Joes, just heat up according to box instructions.

Once the quinoa has been cooked or heated up, place in a large bowl and immediately add the cream cheese so it melts and mixes easier.

Add all the other ingredients except the eggs and mix together.

Beat eggs together and then pour into quinoa mixture and mix well. The eggs help bind the mixture together so that it does not fall apart.

Spray your mini tart pan with cooking spray and then fill with the quinoa mixture.

Cook at 350 in the over for 20 minutes and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Use a knife around the edges to help get the tartlets out without breaking them and serve on a platter.

Fresh figs can be found this time of year in the produce section at some gourmet groceries stores or farmers markets. Believe it or not there are about 6 different types of figs: Black Mission Figs, Brown Turkey Figs, Adriatic Figs (also called white figs), Calimyrna Figs, and Kodota Figs which are less sweet than the other figs.

I found the Brown Turkey Figs, and they are very sweet. Figs are one of those fruits that can be used for so many things. You use them in a salad, on a cheese platter freshly cut or in jam form like this recipe. you can also use it to baste on a pork tenderloin or chop. It would also be really great with lamb. And of course my original intent when I bought the figs was to braise them in a port and serve over ice cream, but I decided I would make this jam instead.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you like it, I would love to have you comment on my blog post for this recipe.

I absolutely love anything with cornmeal, so I thought I would experiment with making healthy gluten free cornmeal pancakes. I wanted to leave out the gluten and the unhealthy sugar, so I used a bit of gluten free flour with the cornmeal. I also added some of my favorite protein powder because I need to have protein with my breakfast.

This is a really easy recipe that you can improvise without fail. This recipe made 6 pancakes, so you will need to double or triple the recipe if you want to make it for more people.

I used my favorite cast iron skillet, but you can use any skillet you want.

I made this quick and yummy compote with the pancakes using fresh berries since I had fresh rasberries and blackberries in the refrigerator. I got my protein and antioxidants in for breakfast! If you don’t want to use fresh berries, you can just use a low sugar syrup or the stevia syrup which you can find at Whole Foods.

Add the cornmeal, gluten free four and protein powder in a large bowl.

Add the grapeseed oil and half to a third of the almond milk and stir. Continue to add the almond milk to get it to the right consistency. If you did not add any protein powder, a scant cup of almond milk works. However, when you add the protein powder, the mixture will be too thick. Slowly add more of the almond milk to get the thickness just right. You may or may not have to use all of the milk depending on how big of scoops you use of your protein powder.

In a separate skillet add about 1/4 cup of the stevia maple syrup with the berries and cook on medium heat for approximately 10 to 15 minutes stirring frequently until the mixture thickens. Once done, turn heat off and let sit until the pancakes are done.

Use a large spoon or measuring cup to scoop batter out to make it easy when putting it into the skillet. Cook on medium heat for approximately 3 to 4 minutes each side.

Serve with the fruit compote and/or the stevia maple syrup. You can also use a low sugar and low cal maple syrup or no syrup at all.

Recipe Notes

Here are some substitutes that will work if needed:

If you don't have gluten free flour, you can use oat flour

You can mix OJ in with the cooked berries instead of the stevia maple syrup

You can use a low sugar and/or low cal syrup if you cannot find the stevia maple syrup